


Zelda's Divinity

by Hiddeninplainview



Series: Zelda's Divinity-verse [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Almost Drowning, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety Attacks, Brotherly Love, But I definitely am not, Drowning, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone in Wild's Hyrule would both die and kill for him, Everyone loves Wild's sister, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Genderfluid Wild (Linked Universe), Good Older Sibling Twilight (Linked Universe), Hurt/Comfort, I'd say I was sorry about any of this, Implied/Referenced Human Trafficking, Implied/Referenced Torture, Legend (Linked Universe) Swears, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), M/M, Minor Character Death, No actual drowning occurs not really, None of my friends like wild's dad, Panic Attacks, Poor Wild (Linked Universe), Post-Breath of the Wild, Protective Twilight (Linked Universe), Psychological Torture, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Sign Language, Sky is one of my favorites, Tarrey Town is my favorite, Team as Family, Torture, Wild (Linked Universe) Angst, Wild (Linked Universe) Has Issues, Wild (Linked Universe) Needs a Hug, Wild (Linked Universe) Whump, Wild (Linked Universe)-centric, With the obvious exception of the Yiga, in that she doesn't have a major role in the fic, in the background but he definitely is, it comes in the form of magic, no blood and no gore though, not permanently?, she is in fact a major character in the games if you hadn't noticed, the torture isn't actually super bad but it's definitely there for a second
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:54:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27871878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hiddeninplainview/pseuds/Hiddeninplainview
Summary: “Link,” She says but its wrong. Her mouth doesn’t move. The words are whispered in the back of his mind just like they always have been. He jerks forward towards her and realizes her eyes have no life behind them. Reaches her just as her entire body goes limp and catches her in his arms. Standing in her place is a teal ghost that is the spitting image of the princess it represents.OrWild's journey towards healing after he loses everything.
Relationships: Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe), Hudson/Rhondson (Legend of Zelda), Hyrule & Wild (Linked Universe), Legend & Warriors (Linked Universe), Link & Monari, Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Link/Shad (Legend of Zelda), Monari/Moggs, Twilight & Wild (Linked Universe), Wild (Linked Universe) & Everyone
Series: Zelda's Divinity-verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2061504
Comments: 119
Kudos: 477
Collections: RaeLynn's Epic Rec List, The Three Angstketeers





	1. An Unwanted Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> So lads here you go. I've got like seven or so chapters written already and I'll post like one every couple of days after today. Please spam me if I don't post after a few days. Comments breathe life into me and should get me moving again.

Six months of traveling. Six months of blood and sweat and barely remembered images of the past. Six months of only having a wolf for company. It was finally over. Just under six hours ago, Link had stormed the castle fully intending to kill the menace plaguing it and now he is destroying the greatest evil to plague Hyrule for ten thousand years. Before he even set foot inside the castle gates he had to say goodbye to a good friend.

* * *

He turned around to see Wolfie, the only friend he can truly call all his own, sitting on his hind legs refusing to follow after him. 

“What’s wrong buddy?” He crouched down next to him. Wolfie just nosed at his hair and pulled back and shook his head. Link looked into his eyes and saw the unending sadness held within them. He felt his heart fall out of his chest. “You have to go don’t you.” Wolfie nodded and Link whined. Wolfie leaned forwards again and licked a stripe from his neck to his cheek then poked his nose at Link’s shoulder and pushed. Link knew what he wanted him to do. He shook his head.

“I don’t want to!” He cried, throwing his arms around his companion. “If beating Ganon means losing you then I don’t know if I can.” Wolfie huffed and settled his head on Links shoulder. He let him cling to him for a few moments before he started howling. Link didn’t remember ever hearing it before but somehow he knew what it was. Zelda’s lullaby. Link squeezed his eyes shut to stop the oncoming onslaught of tears and pulled away. 

“You’re right. Zelda needs me. I have to do this for _her_.” Link reached forward and rubbed Wolfie on the head one more time before he stood. “But if this really is goodbye know this. Thank you for being there. I don’t think I could have done this without you.” He smiled sadly at his friend, the only being he has spoken to aloud since he awoke. “I love you buddy.” Wolfie barked shortly at him before pushing at his legs and yipping. Link knew from experience that it was Wolfie telling him to do as he was told. Link turned and started walking, stopping a couple of steps away. From deep in his chest he rumbled out a noise that meant sorrow. It meant love. It was grief for a friend not even gone yet. He got the same noise in return and he started walking again. By the time he looked back at the castle gates Wolfie was gone. He entered with tears streaming down his cheeks.

* * *

He shakes the memory from his mind as he takes the last shot right at Dark Beast Ganon’s eye. Immediately the creature screeches in pain and a bright light shoots up into the sky. The light coalesces on the ground in front of him turning into a girl. ‘ _Zelda,_ ’ his mind whispers in awe. Zelda raises her hand and the light returns as she seals away the Calamity once again. For a moment everything is still and then she turns to look at him.

“ _Link,_ ” She says but its _wrong_. Her mouth doesn’t move. The words are whispered in the back of his mind just like they always have been. He jerks forward towards her and realizes her eyes have no life behind them. Reaches her just as her entire body goes limp and catches her in his arms. Standing in her place is a teal ghost that is the spitting image of the princess it represents.

“ _No_ ,” he moans. “Please no. Zelda not you too. Please!” He’s begging, he knows. He doesn’t care.

“ _I’m sorry Link. There is nothing you can do. Nothing you could have done. I have been gone for decades_.” Zelda smiles down at him. He just looks up at the girl who’s _corpse_ is in his arms. “ _Thank you for freeing me from the castle. I have a gift for you_.” 

“I don’t want it!” He shakes his head. Zelda smiles down at him and raises her arm. “Zelda _please don’t do this!_ ” 

“ _It’s called ‘Zelda’s Divinity’ and I know you’ll take care of it_.” She raises her hands to her chest and an intangible orb appears from her heart. She pushes it forward and Link would have jerked back to get away from it if it didn’t mean dropping the body of the only friend he has left. It hits him and fills him with warmth and love and he wants to die all over again. “ _I’ll always be here, Link. We all will_.” 

Then her form blows away with the wind and Link is left beaten and bruised and broken with the corpse of his best friend in his arms that has long been cold and for a moment he considers never moving again. He considers just laying here in the dirt and adding his body to the collection the ground has started. But eventually he remembers that even though the reason he started this journey is dead and gone there are still people who need him around. So he gets up, saddles up Epona, and starts the trek to Kakariko with the body of Princess Zelda held in his arms. 


	2. A Hyrule that Cares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How various settlements throughout Hyrule treat Wild.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting this too today because the first chapter is so short. The boys will arrive next chapter. I promise.

It’s been six months since he defeated the Calamity and he still hasn’t said a word. He doesn’t know if he even _can_ anymore. He’s spent most of that time trekking from one end of Hyrule to the other and back again over and over. He’s been stopping at whatever settlements he hits along the way for days at a time before he can’t handle being around people anymore and disappears in the middle of the night. 

Over this time the word spread throughout the entire land of the whole story. How he had woken up from a hundred year restorative sleep just to help people with whatever he could and activate all the shrines littered across the land. How he isn’t just a descendant of the Hylian champion he _is_ the Hylian champion. How after he and his wolf had helped them all with their various issues and wants he had gone to the castle to free the princess only to return without his wolf and with the princess’s dead body in his arms. Everyone knew the story. And not one of them blamed him. He wishes they would. 

They actually do the exact opposite. Every time they see him coming instead of yelling at him like they should they open up their doors and call out to him in warm voices. They let him into their homes and eat dinner with their families. They ask him to help out with their animals and farms and thank him when he does as if he’s doing them a great service. The parents let their kids play with him as if he isn’t someone with blood on his hands. As if he hasn’t killed people before. As if he isn’t the reason that all of their history is lost to time and the wilds. 

But still whenever he goes to Rito Village Teba and Kass and the rest of the village all treat him like family. They as a village put together a little area with a hylian style bed for him to sleep in if he wanted. Every night he was there he would eat dinner with a different family. Teba would take both him and Tulin out to the shooting range one day and the next he would spend with Kass and his daughters learning about music and such. One day he had shown up feeling disconnected from his body and they just took him to the top of the village and he sat with Kaneli for hours until he was feeling connected enough to move around. 

Whenever he ended up at the Goron Village he was always invited on various mining expeditions that they all went on and invited to the hot springs with them all afterwards. Sometimes he’d spend a night under the stars with the boys in the southern mine and they would pull him over to sleep in between them so he didn’t have to worry about waking up with lizards in his sleeping bag. Sometimes he’d trek all the way from the base of the mountain in one night and Volcon and Tray would pull him into the inn and shove him in the softest bed they had available. One time he spent four days there because Tanko had pulled him aside to teach him how to make goron spice. It was actually fairly easy but the measurements and ingredients had to be prepared in a certain way very precisely or it would end up much too spicy or not spicy enough. Another time Rohan had taught him the basics of blacksmithing with the promise of teaching him more the next time he came. 

Whenever he visited Zora’s domain he’d always be welcomed with open arms. He had been given a room next to Sidon’s in the upper part of the domain. He’d always be invited to do training with the guard and when he would say no he would be invited by the healers and taught various techniques that he could use. Once Dento invited him to watch him work so that he could learn how to do detailed metal work. Each time he showed up Laruta and Tumbo would beg him to play with them without fail. He remembered that once he had shown up covered in blood with a stab wound and he had collapsed just after teleporting to the shrine. That was the day he learned that they always had a guard stationed in the square whose job description included keeping track of whether or not the shrine had been used. He had been found very soon and doted on for the rest of the three days he had spent there before he got fed up and escaped in the middle of the night. The next time he ended up there he had been scolded by the healers and then invited to watch them work more.

Whenever he ends up at Gerudo Town he is welcomed with open arms. How strange it was that the last time he ended up there was when he had teleported there in his delusional fever haze after he got a cut that got infected. He hadn’t even been wearing the vai garb when he got there and they took him inside anyway. He expected to be kicked out once he could walk but instead he got a talking to by all the people he regularly visited whenever he ended up out here. Eventually, when he asked her why, Riju just giggled and told him that he was welcome any time in vai garb or not. He found out three things that day. The first was that from about his third time visiting Gerudo Town just about everyone had known that he was technically a voe. The second was that because he had been so respectful of their customs and never once been anything less than absolutely good to everyone in town they had no problems recognizing him as Gerudo. 

The last thing he learned was that his mother was a Gerudo. Riju had told him that was one of the reasons it was so easy for them to grant him access because he was technically one of them. When he asked how she knew she said that there was a record kept of all Gerudo women who had children and that after they found out from the Zora about his heritage they checked and confirmed the legitimacy of the information. Turns out it wasn’t too rare for Gerudo women to have male children who took more after their Fathers than the Gerudo themselves. These children usually ended up having fairly androgenous faces and more strength in their muscles than one would normally expect. Link thought that that actually explained a few things. He had always felt comfortable in the desert and with Gerudo made weapons. He also confessed that night to Riju that when he wore the vai garb he didn’t think of himself as a voe and instead as a vai. She had dragged him outside and made an announcement that if he was in the city in vai garb or other feminine clothing then he was to be treated and called a vai. The rest of the Gerudos just smiled and welcomed him as their sometimes brother, sometimes sister in arms. He cried a lot that night. 

When he visited Hylian settlements he was always made to feel right at home. In Hateno Village he would always wake up to Bolson sitting outside his house. He’d be invited to help him design the architecture for the rebuilding of castle town. Sayge would always stop him on his way through town and offer to teach him about how different dyes are made. It was then that Link learned that the only ways you could make navy dye was using either bladed rhino beetles or luminous stone which is why navy was such a sought after color and used for distinguishing the royal guards specifically. He’d run errands for Purah when she asked and she’d tell him stories about how life was a hundred years ago.

In Lurelin village he was asked to go on fishing trips with Mubs so she could restock her supply. He was taught old family recipes passed down generation to generation and sworn to secrecy. One time Cloyne took him aside and taught him how to count cards in poker. He hasn’t lost a game since. Chessica would drag him to the inn to take a nap sometimes when he would show up because she knew that he probably hadn’t slept in at least twenty four hours. She could just read him like that.

When he would visit stables he would always end up cooking for the residents who lived there full time. He always had ingredients on hand and was more than willing to cook for them. He’d spend hours just taking care of different horses and other various animals that were kept there. One time he had arrived at Tabantha Bridge Stable to the entire staff in a panic. Apparently the resident dog had disappeared in the night. Link had set off to look and found it around a mile away eating some sort of meat. Then some Yiga clan members popped up behind him and attempted to take him by surprise. They nicked him in the side fairly deep before he had injured them enough that they fled from the battle. When he returned to the stable with the dog the staff turned their worry and panic on his newly acquired injury. They made him rest in the bed for a whole day before they let him help out with the horses.

In Tarrey Town he would always spend the night at the town inn. He remembers how when the town was first finished they told him that they wanted to give him a house in town. He had turned them down and then they said that at the very least they needed to give him something. Eventually Kapson had proposed that Link have shared ownership of his own house that he planned to use as the town inn. Link had agreed. Whenever he would visit he would be fed and then get to sleep in a bed that was his and his alone. Hunnie would always beg him to make her more of the special cake he made. Her mother would always thank him for helping her out and give him various trinkets that she made in her free time. Moggs and Monari would always invite him over for dinner and make sure he ate. Hudson and Rhondson always checked up on him and made sure he had enough supplies to keep all of his equipment and clothes together. 

And when he was in Kakariko he would spend the night in Impa’s house or up near Cotera’s fairy fountain. He’d spent some days playing with Cottla and evenings helping Koko cook. He’d spent some days helping Paya take care of Impa. Claree would have him be a model for various clothes she was making and let him keep the prototypes that were tailored to him. Sometimes he would spend nights standing guard outside Impa’s house and listening to the rumors that the Impa’s regular guard had heard. It was information he learned during one such night that led him to his current situation, checking out rumors of smoke on the Great Plateau. 


	3. Bombs are hands free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link investigates rumors of smoke on the Great plateau and somehow ends up falling asleep in someone's arms. Whack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go! I'll post the next chapter sometime before Wednesday and if I don't, spam me until I do.

“Really kid. You don’t need to leave. I’m sure whatever is going on on the plateau isn’t too important and if it is we can take care of it by ourselves.” Dorian says, laying a hand on his shoulder. Link just shakes his head, grabbing his slate and getting ready to teleport. Dorian just sighs. “At least stay safe okay?” Link looks up at him and nods. He taps on the icon for the shrine of resurrection and his body unravels into blue ribbons, flying up into the sky and coalescing inside the first place he can remember seeing the sun. He makes his way out of the shrine and immediately notices something out of place. Just under the cliff on which he had seen the castle for the first time he hears voices. 

“This is so stupid!” a voice yells, “We’ve been camped in this same spot for days! We have to move at _some_ point!”

“Twilight was pretty adamant that as long as we stayed here we’d find what we’re looking for. The hero will come to us.” Link felt his blood run cold.

“That’s bullshit and you know it. It’s been four days and nothing has happened!” Link hears the first voice continue as he slowly, carefully leans his head over to get a look at the group. Sitting at the base of the cliff is a group of five people. The one with pink in his hair is standing and yelling, “Honestly! The hero better show up soon or I’m going to kill Twilight!” 

“Honestly Legend shut the fuck up!” The one who can’t be older than fifteen says. Link didn’t know the Yiga sent people out that young but he supposes he doesn’t know a lot of things. “You complaining won’t make this any better. It just annoys the rest of us!”

“And if you _must_ complain,” The one in the multi-color tunic says, “wait until Twilight is here. Don’t yell at us.”

“When will they get back?” The one with the white cape asks.

“Time, Twilight, and Hyrule went out to look for food to tide us over for a few more days,” The one in the blue scarf (or is it a cape) says.

“Days?! What do you fucking mean days?!” The pink one screeches. It is at this moment that Link drops a square bomb in the middle of their camp. 

“What the fuck?!” The child exclaims and Link almost feels bad. The cape and scarf wearing guys both take a step forward to examine the bomb. Link tosses a round one away from their camp waiting just long enough for it to be recognized and detonates it. Instantly everyone in the clearing freezes. Link takes this opportunity to jump down from his place on the cliff landing in the tree line, backing the men into the cliff.

“ _Who are you?_ ” Link demands in harsh movements. “ _How did you get here?_ ”

“Hey now,” The one with the cape says, hands raised in front of him, “We don’t mean any trouble.”

Link narrows his eyes. “ _Who are you?_ ” He repeats, glaring at them. “ _How did you get here?_ ” He emphasizes each sign with a slight pause. Cape man exchanges a worried glance with scarf guy. He looks back at Link.

“My name is Sky,” he begins slowly, carefully. “This is Warriors, Wind, Four, and Legend.” He gestures to each of his companions as he speaks.

“ _Weird names_ ,” Link says and the one called Legend huffs.

“Never heard that one before.” His arms are crossed over his chest and he looks entirely unbothered.

“Shut up Legend,” The one named Warriors scolds.

“If he was gonna blow us up he already would have!” Legend replies. Link ignores him.

“ _Tell me who you are_.” Link’s face doesn’t soften from his glare. “ _Or I will blow the bomb_.” 

“Now now there’s no need for that.” A gruff voice comes from behind him and Link jumps to the side to be able to keep all of the men in his line of vision. Three men have emerged from the tree line. The one who just spoke is in full plate mail and Link is quite honestly impressed. Actual plate mail after these one hundred years is exceptionally rare. He only knows of the soldier set and the phantom armor and it is very obvious that this armor was not a modified version of the soldier set. Behind him stands a boy who looks around Link’s age and someone wearing a wolf pelt. The one wearing the wolf pelt feels strangely familiar. He locks eyes with him and drops all the wood in his hands.

“You’re here!” He exclaims rushing a few steps but not getting too close. Link scans him and his eyes catch on the markings on the man’s forehead. He falls into a combat stance and draws his sword, eyes never leaving the markings.

“ _Who are you?_ ” he demands, one handed, putting the point of his sword at the man’s forehead. He recognizes that all the others have either frozen or drawn the weapons they had within reach. The man just smiles at him.

“Your favorite sweet is baked apples,” He says, eyes fond and familiar. Link’s arm relaxes minutely. “It took us two weeks to get from Kakariko to Hateno even though it only should have taken one because you were in such awe of the world that we had to stop for you to admire it. It took us until two weeks after that that we finally made a functional system for fighting together.” The sword falls from Link’s hand and the man takes a step forwards and grasps it. “In terms of weather, your favorite regions are the Gerudo Desert and Highlands. We traveled together for almost six months, Cub.” 

Link can feel tears in his eyes and for the first time since Zelda died they aren’t sad. He feels his knees give out from under him and Hylian Wolfie, because this is absolutely Wolfie of that Link has no doubt, catches him before he hits the ground. “Leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I missed you so much.” His face is guided into the crook of the man’s neck and arms wrap around him grounding him into the moment. He inhales and any doubts he may have had disappear in an instant.

“Wolfie,” he whispers, his voice hoarse and barely there from lack of use. Its the only word he has spoken since Zelda died. Wolfie laughs and Link can hear the tears in his voice.

“It’s Twilight now actually.” Wol-Twilight says. Link can feel exhaustion wash over him as he relaxes fully for the first time in months, knowing that whatever happens now at least his best friend is back. His eyes droop and he sags against Twilight. “Woah!” He pulls back far enough to look Link in the eyes and sighs. “When was the last time you slept?” Link passes out before he can answer. 

When he comes to the sun is just dipping below the horizon. There is a fire lit not too far from him and his head is laying on something soft. He realizes that he isn’t at the base of the cliff he was before but rather underneath the small outcrop that the old man had been under when he first met him. There is a hand running through his hair and a voice quietly humming a song he vaguely recognizes as something Wolfie would howl sometimes. He tries to look up at the person without alerting him to him being awake but when he locks eyes with him he realizes that it was a fool’s goal. The man smiles softly down at him and doesn’t stop running fingers through his hair.

“Good morning, Cub.” Link feels tears well up in his eyes again. “Hey, don’t cry.” The hand in his hair slips down to wipe away his tears. Link hiccups and curls his face into Wol-Twilight’s, his name is Twilight, stomach. He wraps his arms around his waist and just revels in the closeness he has missed so dearly. The affection that he has craved from the being he missed the most. Twilight leans over him and Link feels relief at the slight dimming of the light he can see. He feels so overwhelmed by all the emotions running through him right now. 

“T-Twi-” he tries to say but his throat closes up and he gives up. He just grabs the back of Twilight’s tunic and tugs lightly once. Twilight leans back and Link disentangles himself from his lap. He looks up at him and signs, “ _What is going on?_ ”

“I’m not the best at explaining everything, Sky is,” Twilight says. “But the basics of it is that I am a hero of courage just like you. I went on an adventure and wielded the Master Sword to save Hyrule. On that adventure I got sorta cursed and gained the ability to transform into a wolf. A year or so after I had defeated my own Ganon I woke up here and found you. I had my own mentor on my journey so I figured I was sent here to do something similar.”

“ _Why didn’t you tell me about this before?_ ” Link asks.

“I couldn’t transform. Probably the same magic that brought me here kept me from changing form. Speaking of, the others don’t really know I can turn into a wolf so I would appreciate if you didn’t tell them okay, Cub?” Link nods and Twilight smiles at him. “Goddess I missed you.” Twilight reaches forwards and places his hand on the back of Link’s head pulling him forward and putting their foreheads together. “I missed you so much, Cub. I’m so happy you’re okay.” Someone clears their throat from just outside the little outcropping. Link whips his head around and sees the man who wears the plate mail. Out of the corner of his eyes he sees Twilight’s face light up. “Time!”

“Hey, Pup,” The man who is apparently named Time says. “So this is your cub huh?”

“Yeah!” Twilight says, a smile on his face. “Cub, this is Time. He’s my mentor. He taught me everything I know.” 

Time nods at Link. “It’s nice to meet you. What should I call you?” Link tilts his head, confused by the question. 

“Oh right!” Twilight turns to look at Link. “Twilight isn’t my actual name either. Its actually Link. _All_ of us are named Link so we’ve been using nicknames based on our hero titles. So unless you object, because your title is the Hero of the Wild, you would be Wild.” Wild huh. Link decides that it feels more like his name than Link ever has. He nods at Twilight. “Great!”

“Well then Wild. Do you want to meet the others? Maybe without threatening them this time?” Wild cringes at Time’s words. He casts a glance in Twilight’s direction. He just laughs at him.

“Hey, it’s their own faults. I warned them you would be jumpy. And of course the only thing you hear is them complaining about waiting for the Hero. Honestly, they deserved to be threatened.” Twilight ruffles his hair with the hand that hadn’t left the back of his head. “Don’t worry about all that Cub. It wasn’t your fault that they were being stupid.” Wild just nods at him before standing. Together the three of them make their way down to the rest of the group. Wild decides after ten minutes of talking with them that he could get used to being a part of this group. 


	4. Wild meets the family he didn't know has adopted him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wild meets some of Twilight's most important people.  
> OR  
> Shadlink's come get y'all's milk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys like this! The Shadlink isn't super prominent and as of right now this is all that's planned where Shad will actually be but like, you know.

It’s been two weeks and the only thing he’s sure of is that he’s the only one who failed. He’s not even referring to the deaths of thousands that were caused by his incompetence or even necessarily the one hundred years that the lands were ravaged by monsters. No, he’s referring to the fact that the line with the blood of the goddess has ended. 

After hearing Sky’s tale about his journey and the reason he chose, and choose he did rather than being forced into it like Wild himself, to go on that journey, he knew that his time was the ending of all that. He learned about the curse. How the one with the spirit of the Hero and the blood of the Goddess would band together to drive out the evil that plagued the land. But now, now the line with the blood of the goddess has been wiped out, and it was all his fault. 

He can feel the divine nature of Zelda’s gift to him in his soul the same way he can feel the other champion’s gifts. He knows that any goddess given divinity she held is his now but that doesn’t make it better. The girl with the blood of the goddess has been lost. He vowed after he figured that out to tell no one about that particular part of his journey. He thinks about all of this and the past two weeks during his watch one night. 

Not even a full day after he had encountered the rest of the heroes camped out under the cliff next to the shrine of resurrection they had switched into Twilight’s Hyrule. Turns out they appeared near enough to his home village for them to stop there before making a journey to Castletown to see his Zelda. After making it there Twilight was all too enthusiastic to introduce Wild, and the rest of them, to the people in his village. 

Apparently Twilight had talked about him a lot after he got back from helping him out on his adventure. Wild had been a little uncomfortable at the beginning but he quickly realized that none of these people meant him any harm and started to relax. Twilight dragged him up to the Ranch to teach him how to herd goats and called him a natural when he got it in the first try. Wild didn’t have the heart to tell him that he had helped herd horses to a stable to help with the rebuilding efforts. 

That night, the second night he spent with the heroes, he slept with Twilight in Twilight’s own bed with Twilight’s arms wrapped around him protectively. For the first time in six months he let himself sleep two nights in a row. He woke up the next morning to fingers running through his hair and Twilight smiling down at him and he let himself bask in the love he could feel coming from his mentor.

They left Ordon a few hours later after much complaining from the village children. Colin had come up to Wild and thanked him. When Wild had asked why he had simply responded, “Link was always really sad after the whole thing with the Twilight Realm but after he helped you he seemed a lot happier.” Wild had nodded and ruffled Colin’s hair which seemed to be enough for the boy. 

It took them until evening to reach Castletown and the first place they ended up at was not the castle but rather an inn. Apparently the castle locks its doors during the hours of twilight and doesn't open them until morning. Then Twilight had told the rest that he was going to show Wild something then dragged him away again. He led them through alleyways pointing out different shops and such before they hit a dead end. He had pushed open the door at the end of it and a strong looking woman had grabbed him by the ear and dragged him away.

* * *

“Telma seriously!” Twilight protests weakly.

“You just up and disappeared _again_ , Link! I ought to have your head!” The woman scolds, releasing him. A man pokes his head out of the back room and Wild watches as the man’s whole demeanor lights up like a bomb barrel in the night. 

“Link! You’re back!” He exclaims, coming into the room and revealing clothes that for some reason makes Wild think about Robbie and Purah. Twilight locks eyes with the man and smiles widely.

“Shad!” Twilight then wraps the man in a hug and knocks their foreheads together. The smile on his face becomes something more soft and intimate. “I’ve got someone I want to introduce to you guys.” All of a sudden all the eyes in the room converge on him and Wild feels himself shrink under their gazes. From the back room two more people had emerged, a petite lady with black hair and an older looking gentleman who both also direct their gazes onto him. When Twilight notices his tenseness he releases the red headed man from his hold, smile slipping into a worried line, and hurries over to Wild to lay a calming hand on his shoulder. Against his thoughts he feels himself relax with the reassuring weight of his mentor’s presence. “Sorry, Cub. I didn’t think about how much this might overwhelm you.” Wild shakes his head.

“ _You wanted to introduce me?_ ” he asks. “ _So who are they?_ ” Twilight’s grin returns full force. He whips around to face the others again.

“Alright everyone! I’d like you to meet Wild, my little brother,” Twilight says. The others in the bar’s eyes seem to widen before the woman whose presence seems to demand to be noticed breaks the silence.

“So you’re the little brother we’ve heard so much about!” She laughs heartily. “It’s nice to finally have a face for all those stories!” 

“It’s very nice to meet you,” The red haired man (Shad?) says. “Link talks about you a lot and I’ve wanted to meet you for quite some time. Thank you for taking care of him.” 

The black haired woman simply nods at him while the older man says, “We’ve heard many stories about you, kid.”

“ _Nice to meet you._ ” Wild nods to them. 

“Cub,” Twilight says. “This is Telma, Shad, Ashei, and Auru. They’re members of the resistance. Or rather former resistance.”

“Oh!” Shad says. “Pardon my manners. I should have introduced myself.” Wild shrugs. He doesn’t really mind. Twilight smooths the hand on his shoulder across his back and drags him into a half hug. 

“Shad is my lover,” he whispers into Wild’s ear and Wild feels confused. He leans away far enough for him to look at Twilight.

“ _What’s a lover?_ ” He asks and watches as the blood drains from Twilight’s face. He’s not the only one. Shad’s face starts looking a little pale too and the others just look shocked. 

“What?!” Twilight hisses at Wild. 

“Link,” Shad exclaims, face going bright red, “why would you _say_ that?!”

“I just wanted to poke a little fun! I didn’t realize he wouldn’t _know_.” Twilight releases Wild from his half hug and covers his rapidly reddening face with his hands. All of a sudden Telma and Auru start laughing loudly and Wild can see Ashei’s mouth quirk up in a small smile. He doesn’t get what’s so funny.

“Well kid,” Telma starts, “When people like each other sometimes they-”

“NO!” Twilight yells. “We are _not_ having this conversation right now!”

“We kinda have to Link,” Auru says, wide grin a permanent feature on his face. “Your boy looks mighty confused.” Twilight jerks his gaze away from Auru’s smirking face to look at the confusion Wild has written across his face. His entire body seems to sag.

“Alright fine. Listen Cub, people are lovers when they…” Twilight starts then trails off. “Lovers…” 

“They fuck.” Ashei’s voice rings out for the first time that night and Twilight and Shad’s faces both explode. Wild’s eyes widen in realization, a small blush spreading across his cheeks.

“ _Is that what being married is called here?_ ” Wild asks. 

“No honey.” Telma shakes her head. “People get married after having been together for a while. It’s a big commitment. Being lovers is the in between stage.” Wild nods.

“ _I_ _n my world, we don’t have time for an ‘in between’ stage. People marry quick cause nothing is guaranteed._ ” Wild’s movements are fluid. Sex isn’t a taboo topic in his world. People talk about it openly and freely.

“Are you saying,” Twilight says slowly, “that we could have avoided this whole conversation if I had called Shad a different _word?_ ” 

* * *

After the whole ‘lovers’ incident Wild and Twilight spent almost two hours in the pub. At some point, after Wild had gotten comfortable with the others enough, Twilight had grabbed Shad by the hand and dragged him into the back room. They had all quietly laughed. When they emerged some time later it was with swollen lips and rumpled clothes. On the walk back to the inn Wild had nudged Twilight with his elbow.

* * *

“ _You love him?_ ” Wild asks. Twilight smiles softly.

“I do. So much. More than almost anything. Shad is... _amazing._ ” Twilight breathes the last word like a prayer, looking down at the ground in front of him with a small sad smile on his face. “I miss him all the time when I’m away but I know he’ll wait for me. Hopefully one day he won’t have to anymore.”

“ _I hope so too,_ ” Wild said, laying a hand on Twilight’s shoulder after he finished. Twilight reached up and covered the hand with his own.

“Thanks, Cub.” They walk in comfortable silence for the rest of their journey.

* * *

The others had bombarded Twilight with questions when they got back and when he didn’t answer they turned to Wild. Wild hadn’t said anything. Later that night he was dragged into a room with Time and Twilight. He had sat awake on his bed and stared at the ceiling wondering if he’d ever find love like that. If he _already_ found love like that and lost it. He couldn’t remember. 

The next day they had made the journey to talk to Twilight’s Zelda, Dusk, and Wild had felt the world crashing down around his ears. Her voice, so similar to his own Zelda’s, had welcomed them into the throne room. She had smiled at Twilight and beckoned him forward, standing to meet him in a hug. Twilight had crushed her to him and the other heroes had hooted and hollered. Twilight had thrown a not serious glare over his shoulder. 

He introduced Dusk as his best friend and said in no uncertain terms that they were not lovers. Dusk had laughed before sitting down on her throne and gaining a more serious look. She told them of strong monsters along the route from Kakariko to Castletown and asked them to dispose of them. They had left not long after receiving the information, Twilight hugging Dusk once again before they left.

On the road they had all talked about their respective Zeldas. Time’s whose nickname was Lullaby and sometimes went by an alter ego called Sheik who had helped him on his journey. Warriors’s Zelda, Artemis, also sometimes used Sheik as an alter ego. Legend’s Zelda went by Fable and was actually his sister. Hyrule had two Zeldas, Dawn and Aurora, and had an adventure to save each of them. Wind’s Zelda was actually a pirate named Tetra and had all but spit on the fact that she was supposed to be a princess. Four’s Zelda, Dot, was his childhood friend. Finally he learned about Sky’s Zelda. Sun was Hylia given Hylian form, the original reincarnation of the goddess. 

When asked about his own he didn’t know how to explain. How was he supposed to tell these heroes, all of whom had done their duty and saved their Zeldas, that he had failed at his most basic responsibility. How was he supposed to say that his journey ended in _failure_. So he just talked about what he could remember from before. He talked about how she was a scientist. He talked about how she had trouble awakening her powers. He talked about how her favorite thing was the Silent Princess flower. The others decided to call her Flora and Wild privately thought she would have liked it. 

After they had dispatched the monsters on the road they had started to make their way to Kakariko but never made it there. Instead they were thrown into a new Hyrule and dealt with nothing but monsters and wilderness for days. Which brings him to now, staring up at the sky contemplating not for the first time just how much he has _failed._

“Wild,” a voice says from behind him. He turns to see Hyrule, someone he had grown to like over the past two weeks, sitting up in his bedroll. “You were supposed to wake me up for the second watch. It’s almost time for the third.”

Wild just shrugged.

“ _I won’t be able to sleep tonight. Don’t worry. I’m used to going days without sleep. I think I’ve just had too much of it recently._ ” He turns his head back up to look at the stars. He listened to the footsteps drawing ever nearer but didn’t look. Hyrule sat down beside him.

“Still. If you’re gonna stay awake all night you shouldn’t be alone,” He says and Wild doesn’t argue. Hyrule reaches over and lays a hand over Wild’s own. His eyes jerk down to stare at it as Hyrule intertwines their fingers. Eventually he looks back up at the sky. They sit in comfortable silence. At some point Hyrule leans his head against Wild’s shoulder and his breathing evens out. Wild sits there in silence until morning. He doesn’t wake up the next watch either. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you thought! The next chapter will probably be sometime next week. I’ve got an idea I want to add and chronologically it comes next so it’s gonna take a minute.


	5. Wild and Hyrule's terrible horrible no good very bad day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyrule and Wild get snatched off the street by some of Legend's "friends." Spoiler alert: they're not friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Take note that I added a couple of tags. It's not as bad as the tags might make it out to be but I wanted to be safe. Please read with caution. There's a general summary in the end note if you wanna skip it and the torture part ends at the first line break if you wanna go straight to Wild-Hyrule bonding hours.

Wild can’t remember exactly how they got in this situation, him and Hyrule tied up and thrown in some closet somewhere. Wild thinks it probably has something to do with how he had woken up to the back of his head throbbing. The last thing he remembered was landing in a town in Legend’s Hyrule and pairing off with Hyrule to find some healing supplies. They had been walking down a quiet street and then he had woken up here, Hyrule in front of him still out cold. He closes his eyes trying to figure out what might have happened. According to the throbbing coming from the back of his head he assumes that they had been hit over the head and taken. But _what for?_ Before he finds an answer Hyrule wakes up. 

He jolts in his binds and Wild’s eyes immediately lock onto his form. Hyrule’s eyes are crazed and panicked as they lock onto Wild. “Wild, where are we?” His voice has nothing behind it, little more than a whisper of air. Wild shakes his head. He has no idea. Hyrule’s breathing starts to come a little faster. Wild has no idea what he’s supposed to do in this situation. He decides to just scoot a little closer and knock his forehead into Hyrule’s. Hyrule’s eyes suddenly focus on him and Wild tries to project calm and peace even though he doesn’t feel it all that much himself. 

‘Ok,’ he mouths but makes no sound. This seems to be enough for now because Hyrule calms visibly even though Wild can still read the tension in his shoulders. This comes just in time because not a second after the door swings open. A large man with a scar across his left eye, obviously caused by a sword wielded by someone with their left hand, and two other men enter the room.

“We know you travel with _Link_ ,” The man spits out with venom. “That bastard isn’t welcome here and neither are any of his no good friends.” The man crouches down next to their heads and brushes hair out of Wild’s eyes in something that feels like sick affection. It makes his skin crawl. “But at least you two are good for something. He’s gonna pay a lot of money for his companions back.” The man stands. “You two were such trouble to get here. We had to use a stealth potion to sneak up behind you. Oh well, I’ll add it to Link’s tab.” The man makes it to the door as one of the men grabs Wild by the shoulders and bodily hauls him upwards. 

“Who are you?” Hyrule asks.

“Don’t worry too much.” He ignores Hyrule and Wild sees Hyrule’s eyes narrow. “My guys can only work on one of you at a time and I’m sure they’ll stop if you ask.” He turns around with a wicked grin. “Can’t wait to see the look on that _bastard’s_ face when he gets here and sees the mess that will become the two of you. Hope he gets those rupees together soon.” A laugh escapes him as Wild is tied down to a chair. “Remember boys.” The two men make a show of stopping what they’re doing for a few moments to listen. “No permanent damage. After all by the end of the day these two will be our property.”

“Who the _fuck_ are you?!” Hyrule seethes from his place on the ground, a fury Wild has never seen swimming in his eyes. The man finally looks at Hyrule.

“I’ll be your master soon, kid. Link’s always been a poor bitch.” He slams the door behind him and the reality of their situation settles in Wild’s mind. The two men finish securing Wild’s bondings and then move to tie Hyrule to a chair of his own. Hyrule struggles in all the ways Wild hadn’t, thrashing and trying to break their holds on him. Wild hadn’t tried. He knew it was futile. He’s probably got at least a minor concussion and the two men are much stronger than him. Under normal circumstances they would be no problem for him but dazed, tied up, and having to worry about collateral damage means Wild doesn’t stand a chance.

“So,” One of the guys says as he ties the last knot on Hyrule’s chair, “which of you is gonna start?” Wild sees Hyrule’s eyes widen. He must’ve just understood exactly the position they were in. They were gonna be tortured, one at a time, while the other watched. According to scarface, they’d be able to bow out at any time, but of course this would just mean that the other would undergo the treatment instead.

“Why are you doing this?” Hyrule asks. “What’s the point? What did we ever do to you?” Wild squeezes his eyes closed. These people don’t need a reason. He can see from the look in their eyes, they just want to hurt people.

“Kid, I just like to hear people scream.” Both men laugh darkly at the statement. “I think we’ll start with you then. You’re feisty.” A rush of panic runs through Wild. Hyrule can’t be hurt. Wild won’t let him get hurt, not while he can do something about it.

“Me.” His voice comes out scratchy and weak but in the tense silence of the room it rings. Wild hardly has time to register the absolute shock in Hyrule’s eyes before one of them men has crossed the room and grabbed him by the chin.

“What did you say, kid? You look like you’ve had more than your fair share of pain.” He runs the backs of two of his fingers over the scar covering the left half of his face. “I could hardly hear what you said. Why don’t you try again? Just so we can make sure.” The one still by Hyrule pulls a potion out of his pocket and Hyrule’s eyes blow wide with fear upon seeing it. Wild can only assume that the potion is not good at all.

“Start with me,” he says in a voice that is somehow more firm than it ever has been despite how breathy it is. The men both grin wickedly and converge around him.

“Alright kid. You first.” The man with the potion grabs the back of his head and tilts his head back to pour the potion down his throat. Wild gags around it. The potion is bitter and somehow spicy at the same time. It feels like its stabbing him as it goes down and he doubts that it will get better. After he’s finished swallowing he looks Hyrule in the eyes.

“This isn’t your fault,” He says. “I chose this. This isn’t your fault.” He hopes that Hyrule might be able to believe that, but he doubts it. The hero’s spirit has never taken to watching other people in pain. Very suddenly the ropes around his wrists and ankles and the clothes that he’s wearing seem to almost dig into his skin. He sucks in a breath and can feel his eyes water when that only makes it worse.

“Looks like the potion kicked in, huh, Plior,” One of the men says.

“Looks like it, Krant,” the other replies. A hand touches the back of his head firmly, right on the bump he knows must be there, and he jerks forward away from the pain the simple touch causes. It’s not the worst pain he’s ever felt, no that would be taking guardian blast after guardian blast or maybe watching Zelda’s lifeless body fall to the ground, but it’s certainly one of his top twenty most painful things. And all they’ve done so far is poke at a bump on his head. 

You know what kid I like you. I like your spunk, your spirit,” One of the men says and Wild’s too focused on trying to get away from the very clothes he’s wearing, breathing coming out in pants, to distinguish them. “If you ask now I’ll give you the antidote. We’ll switch to your little buddy over there. Won’t even use the potion. That kid could use some scars.” 

“Fuck…..you,” Wild says with much effort, the constant pain is almost ramping up on itself. “I’d rather _die_ than see him hurt.” A hand lands on his shoulder with much force and Wild barely holds in a scream. It feels like every part of his body that can feel pain is right now at the slightest touch. The purposeful touches feel like he’s being stabbed repeatedly.

“Oh well. We tried.” The man leans forward and the breath Wild feels on his neck _burns._ “That's just too-” A door bangs open and the guy’s grip on him tightens. Wild can’t contain the broken scream it rips from his throat. Its the loudest noise he can remember making. Then all of a sudden the man’s hand is gone and he can hear a crash behind him.

“Cub,” a voice says right in front of him but he can’t process anything but the pain. Something reaches forward and caresses his cheek in what would normally be a comforting gesture but now just causes great pain. He lets out a cry of pain and the hand jerks back.

“Don’t touch him!” Wild’s so hyper focused on Hyrule that his voice cuts right through the fog. Wild opens his eyes to look in his direction and finally processes who is in front of him. Twilight. “They gave him a potion.”

“What do you mean they gave him a potion?!” Legend demands from his place in front of Hyrule.

“It was gray,” Hyrule says and Legend’s eyes blow wide.

“Oh fuck. Twilight, get away from him!” Legend slices through one rope tying Hyrule’s hand to the chair and abandons him to walk in his and Twilight’s direction.

“Why?” Twilight demands, sounding offended to even be asked to think about doing that.

“He was given a torture potion,” Legend says, an off look in his eyes. “Every time something touches him it feels like he’s being stabbed. Any change in temperature feels like it burns.” Twilight jumps away from him so quick Wild hardly even registers the movement. He hangs his head forward and breathes heavily. So maybe this isn’t top twenty, maybe its top five. Definitely up there that’s for sure and its getting worse with every breath. A thud comes from behind him.

“Where is the antidote?” A voice says with so much venom Wild hardly recognizes it as Hyrule’s. He vaguely wonders how Hyrule got out of his bindings but then he remembers the knife Legend had handed to him.

“There is no-” One of the men tries but the sound of something hitting something hard cuts it off. Wild can hear Hyrule’s foot settle back on the floor and realizes that his hearing is starting to get affected too.

“Do you wanna try a different answer?” Hyrule growls at the other man. There’s a small rustling of fabric and the sound of a bottle clanking against something metal. “Good boy,” Hyrule says, sickly sweet, and then knocks that man out too. 

“Wild,” a soft voice comes from directly in front of him and he abruptly realizes that he’s tuned out everything but Hyrule demanding the antidote, “I need you to tilt your head back. You have to drink this.” Wild hardly processes the words but he does think that Legend’s voice has never sounded like this before. Apparently soft Legend doesn’t get what he wants because his voice comes again. “Wild you need to do this on your own or I’ll have to touch you.” Wild can feel himself jerk at the thought. He swings his head back in an attempt to avoid any contact he can and lets out a pained sound when the back of his head hits the chair. He doesn’t see the pained eyes that are focused on him, too focused on squeezing his eyes shut to stop the onslaught of light that is too bright even through his eyelids.

“Cub,” Twilight’s voice is back and this time Wild recognizes it instantly. His mentor’s voice is full of worry and pain. “I’m going to hold this bottle to your lips and you have to drink it ok. I need you to do this for me.” Wild can feel his whole body tense at the thought. It will be cold. It’s gonna burn. It’s gonna hurt. He doesn’t realize he’s started shaking until Twilight speaks again. “It’s not going to be fun going down but it will stop this. It will make it better.” Wild stills for a moment before slowly opening his mouth. The liquid of the potion follows after it and he can barely keep himself from choking. He forces himself to stay still with all the ability he has gained from trying to stay quiet in the wilds. After the bottle leaves his lips he clamps his jaw shut and his whole body convulses. 

Eventually the pain dies down to a dull ache that he suspects is just an aftereffect of the whole thing. His body goes limp and he cracks his eyes open. Kneeling in front of him is Twilight with a look of pure worry and concern. Involuntarily a whine escapes his throat and suddenly Twilight’s hands are cupping his cheeks and he leans into the contact. A wave of exhaustion rolls over him and his eyes slip closed. 

Vaguely he recognizes the ropes binding his hands get cut. He slumps forward and Twilight rises to meet him. Wild directs his face into Twilight’s neck and breathes deeply. He feels Twilight slip an arm under his knees and around his shoulders and his center of gravity shift when he is lifted. He tries to get as close as possible to Twilight, his body heat somehow soothing the ache he can feel throughout his entire body. A hand lays itself across his forehead, a cool sensation coming from its touch. He blearily blinks his eyes open to see Hyrule looking at him worriedly.

“Wild,” Hyrule’s voice is quiet, “you can sleep. We’re here to protect you. I promise nothing will happen to you while I’m here.” He gets a look of contemplation on his face before he says, “I’d rather die than see you hurt.” Vaguely, through his sleep and concussion addled brain, he remembers saying the same thing to their captors. He wants to reply but he can’t muster the strength. Instead he tries to lean into Hyrule’s healing touch and closes his eyes, curling up into Twilight’s arms. He drifts off to the comforting touch and presence of the only two people he trusts alive who have heard his voice. 

* * *

When he comes to later its in a bed with his head in Hyrule’s lap. There are fingers running through his hair and he leans into the touch. The fingers freeze for a second.

“Wild?” Hyrule’s hesitant voice says. Wild cracks his eyes open and takes in his surroundings. No one else seems to be in the room. He looks up at Hyrule with a questioning glance. “The others are either shopping or taking the rest of those guys to the guards.”

“The rest?” Wild asks and watches as surprise flits across Hyrule’s face.

“You’re speaking to me?” He asks in a voice that sounds awed. Wild nods.

“I trust you.” He leaves it at that. 

“I’m so sorry Wild,” Hyrule says, tears welling up in his eyes. “This was my fault.”

“It wasn’t,” Wild says simply. “I couldn’t let you get hurt.” He reaches up to wipe at the tears streaking down Hyrule’s face. “You’re important to me. I couldn’t let you get hurt.”

“How do you think I feel?!” Hyrule demands. “You were being hurt because of me!”

“I was hurt because of those guys. I’ve lost a lot in my life, Hyrule. All my friends are dead.” The admission seems to startle Hyrule. 

“What?” Hyrule whispers.

“I slept for a hundred years. I know Twilight told you,” Wild says and Hyrule suddenly refuses to meet his eyes. “When I woke up everyone I’d ever known was dead. I had failed them. I won’t fail the people I care about again.”

“You didn’t fail them Wild!” Hyrule says, eyes snapping to meet his. “From what I understand there was little you could’ve done to stop them.”

“Even if that is true,” Wild says, not believing it at all, “it doesn’t change the fact that everyone I knew is dead.”

“You still have Zelda don’t you?” Hyrule says, all sincerity. Wild closes his eyes against the onslaught of feelings that raise in his chest at the reminder that he’s been deceiving them. Would Hyrule still think the same if he knew Zelda was dead too? So instead of replying Wild changes the subject.

“You never answered my question.”

“Oh!” Hyrule says. “From what Four told me before he left, Twilight went berserk when they got the message that we had been taken. Legend led them to the hideout and a few of the guys who were holding us hostage died in the fight. Legend apparently fucked up that guy’s other eye. Honestly he deserved it.” Wild nods.

“You knew what that potion was.” Its not a question but Hyrule gives an answer anyways.

“Legend’s Hyrule is just mine in the past. I’ve seen those potions before. I’ve never had one but I’ve heard stories. Are you okay?”

“I’ve had worse.” Wild says and regrets it when Hyrule’s face falls. Hyrule puts his hand on Wild’s forehead again and starts up another steady stream of healing magic. The lingering aches and blurriness starts to ebb away. They sit in a comfortable silence until the others return.

* * *

After that incident Hyrule took to holding Wild’s hand while they traveled. When he asked why Hyrule replied, “So we can both know that we’re not alone.” Hyrule becomes the person he goes to when being around the others is too much, the two of them venturing off into the woods only to be found later by Wolfie and scolded upon their return. Wild wouldn’t trade those moments for the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically Wild and Hyrule get taken and the guy plans to ransom them back to Legend. He implies that if Legend doesn't pay they'll become his property. Wild and Hyrule are told that only one of them will be hurt at a time and that they can bow out and give their pain to their partners. Wild purposefully takes the first go and is force fed a potion that puts all his nerves into hyper-drive. They get rescued soon after but Wild still had to go through that. He gets an antidote. Then Hyrule and wild bond a bit.
> 
> I'll update again by Wednesday.


	6. Wild didn't start this arguement but he ends it.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warriors and Legend have a bicker battle. Wild is not amused.  
> Or  
> Who wants to know about Wild's sister?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here my friends is a look into Wild's past. I hope you enjoy it.

The first time Wild speaks to the group as a whole is one night before dinner almost a month into him being there. Legend and Warriors had somehow gotten into a fight. Wild honestly couldn’t remember how the whole thing got started but he remembers why he had spoken.

* * *

“It’s not like it really matters to you, Mr. Captain sir,” Legend sneers. “If we were going by rank you’d be _bowing!_ ” 

“Like I’d ever bow to you, bastard prince,” Warriors fires right back. The others had wandered off at some point trying to avoid the full blown fight Warriors and Legend were having and let them get it out of their systems. Wild however had been left to listen to this fight as he cooked dinner.

“At least I know my _place!_ ” Legend scoffs. “You waltz around like you are worth more than the clothes you wear and the sword you wield.” Wild freezes, the ladle he’d been using to idly stir tonight’s dinner slip from his hand.

“Yeah, well, at least I was meant to be _born!_ ” Warriors jeers and anything he follows up with is lost to the static in Wild’s ears. 

* * *

* * *

_“Link!” Father screams, barging into the room and grabbing him by the wrist. “I’ve told you so many times. You are not to bother your sister! You have your duties and she needs to study!”_

_“Please, Father!” Monari cries. “I want to spend time with Big Brother!”_

_“No, Monari. I’ve told you time and time again. Link is not your brother. He is simply a_ mistake _that turned out to be_ necessary. _” Father sneers._

 _“But Father, you always said that Link would always be around to protect me!” She looks sorry to even be saying this in his presence. She’s only eight, him twelve, and she knows that their Father is_ wrong. _“But now he is always at the castle, protecting the princess!”_

_“Oh sweetie,” Arthur coos, releasing Link to kneel in front of her, “I’m sorry that Link couldn’t fulfill his duty as your knight. But sometimes bad things happen to good people. At least now you can have a well bred knight instead.” He turns to look at Link. “Why are you still here?!” He whips the back of his hand across Link’s face and Link barely even moves. He’s used to it. “Get back to the castle you good for nothing mongrel!”_

_Link leaves the room with one last longing look at the sister he only sees once a year. The door closing breaks their locked gazes._

* * *

* * *

He comes back to Warriors saying, “Your poor sister having to put up with you I can’t even imagine!” and Wild snaps.

“ _Quiet_ ,” he hisses and both of their heads whip towards him.

“Wild, did you just-” Legend starts.

“I SAID QUIET!” Wild screams, voice cracking from disuse and drawing the attention of the others nearby. “You two go _too far!_ I don’t _care_ if you don’t mean the things you say. And I don’t _care_ that you both are able to take that _shit_ from each other. Did it ever occur to you that someone else in the group might have a _problem_ with some of that?!”

“Wild, we didn’t me-” Warriors tries.

“I don’t want you to _speak_ , I want you to _listen_!” Wild steamrolls right over Warriors attempt at a rebuttal. “You make everyone here uncomfortable. They all left when you weren’t looking but you were too caught up in your _petty unneeded fighting_ to realize that. I was stuck cooking dinner so I was stuck listening to you bicker and bitch and moan, throwing insults you _both_ know you don’t mean back and forth for _no good reason!_ ” Wild takes a step forward towards them and feels a grim satisfaction at the way they take one back. “You don’t even have the _basic decency_ to go _somewhere else_ for your _shitfest._ You never even _considered_ that I may have a problem with the absolute horse shit you are throwing. Well, let me enlighten you.” He moves forward again and this time they take multiple ones back for his one step.

“I am a _bastard child_ , as you so _delicately_ put it Warriors. The only thing my _father_ considered me good for was the sword and shield that I could carry.” Both Warriors and Legend flinch violently, each probably remembering their own trials with things similar. “Before I pulled the master sword, at _ten_ might I add, I was forced into training every day from the moment I could physically hold a training sword. I was to be the knight protector for whatever heir my stepmother produced. After she was born I was only allowed to see her in person once a _month_ because any more than that and she might become too _attached_ to me. Then I get dragged along with my Father on a trip to see if any knights could master the trial of the forest and emerge with the Master Sword.”

“Wild you don’t have to-” Twilight tries but even he can’t stop Wild now.

“My Father _failed_ the trial obviously. He decided to take me a ways away and beat me to make him feel better. For the first time in my entire life I _ran_. I ran into the forest and I found the Master Sword. I stayed there, in the Korok forest for _three days_ debating whether or not I should pull the sword. I was only ten years old and I had to make a decision on if being the Hero of the entire _world_ or just some nobleman’s _bastard child_ was better. Eventually, I pulled the sword and emerged from the forest a hero. This was the only time I have ever had the _satisfaction_ of knowing I pulled one over on my Father.” Wild grits his teeth. 

“Then I remembered exactly why I considered leaving the sword in its pedestal in the first place, because my sister, the only one who has ever shown me any form of love in that house, was standing at his side. Suddenly I was forced into even more training than before. My superiors were no better than my Father had ever been. I could only see my sister once a _year_. I was told everyday from everyone I interacted with that the only thing that made me worth being alive was the fact that I wielded the sword that seals the darkness. So no! I don’t _care_ that you didn’t mean what you said. I don’t _care_ that the words weren’t meant for me. Because up until fucking five minutes ago, I didn’t fucking _remember_ any of this. So thanks for that I guess!” Wild turns and stalks back over to the pot he had been using for cooking. He kicks the pot so it falls over, spilling all of its content on the ground. “Make your own goddessdamn dinner.” Then he marches into the trees with no intention of returning that night, leaving the people he has come to see as brothers gaping in his wake. 

* * *

Three hours later, after Wild has finished screaming and hitting trees with swords until they break, he sits numbly with his back against the stump of a tree he has just cut down, staring into the middle distance at absolutely nothing. The only thing he can think of is Monari. Monari who always looked up to him. Monari who loved him with everything she could give. Monari who would sneak him treats on his birthday. Monari who he had abandoned when he pulled the Master Sword, abandoned again when he died protecting Zelda. Monari who he had _spoken to multiple times since waking up the shrine_. 

And all he can think is _why?_ Why didn’t she say _anything_? Wild would give anything to know right now but he knows that he may never find out. Now that he remembers he wants nothing more than to wrap her up in a hug. He missed her so much and he didn’t even realize it. He knows now what the longing in his chest was when he first met her. He knows why seeing Wind interact with Aryll had caused such a spring of emotions to rise up inside him. _He has a sister_.

He’s so lost in thought that he doesn’t even register the familiar sounds of a particular set of footsteps coming ever closer. Can barely feel the wet nose that nudges his hand. Only moves when Twilight, in the form of Wolfie, settles his weight across Wild’s lap and pushes his nose into his neck. Wild feels tears drip down his cheek for the first time that night.

“I have a _sister_ ,” he says, and Twilight leans more fully into him. Wild slowly raises his arms and clings onto Twilight, fingers digging deep into Twilight’s fur. Twilight for his part just sits there while Wild breaks down. “She’s _alive_ ,” he moans after a few more minutes and he can feel Twilight stiffen slightly. Apparently he wasn’t expecting that. “And she never _told_ me.” After that Wild breaks down into sobs again, Twilight does his part of acting as an anchor. Eventually Wild’s sobs peter out and he unfurls from where he’s wrapped himself around Twilight. He leans back against the tree and sighs. Not a moment later Twilight transforms from wolf to Hylian and lays a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry that happened to you Wild. And I’m sorry I didn’t stop Legend and Warriors earlier.” Twilight’s face is twisted in a guilty expression.

“Actually,” Wild starts, “as mad as I am about the careless things they said, I never would have remembered Monari if they hadn’t said them so in a way I’m glad you didn’t. That being said, please stop them next time.” Twilight grins sadly.

“I don’t think there will be a next time cub. They both haven’t spoken since you left. I think they’re drowning in guilt.”

“They deserve it.”

“They do,” Twilight agrees. “But Cub, you realize what you’ve done right?”

“Hmmm?” Wild asks, looking up at Twilight through his hair.

“You yelled at them. With your voice.” Wild feels his eyes widen at Twilight’s words.

“That’s not how I expected to speak to the group for the first time but I suppose beggars can’t be choosers.” Twilight just laughs and Wild follows closely behind. After he’s finished he feels the exhaustion of the night creep up on him. He leans his weight onto Twilight and sighs.

“Getting tired, Cub?” Twilight asks.

“Sorry. I’ve had a long day.”

“Sleep. I’ll carry you back to camp.” Twilight says, reaching up to rub the side of his wrist against the side of Wild’s head. Wild leans into the touch and lets his eyes fall closed. 

* * *

He wakes up to people moving around camp. A quick glance around tells him that people have begun packing up but apparently were gonna let him sleep as long as possible. He decides to close his eyes again and bask in the relative calm that he is currently experiencing. At some point Twilight plops down beside him. Wild knows Twilight knows he’s awake but that doesn’t stop him from running his fingers through Wild’s hair. Not even five minutes later a voice breaks the silence.

“What are we gonna do about Wild?” Wind’s voice rings out loud and clear. Wild shuffles a bit to move closer to Twilight’s warmth thinking maybe someone else would realize he’s awake but he doesn’t think they even notice.

“There’s not much we can do Sailor,” Time says in all his wisdom. “Wild’s trauma runs deep, much deeper than we originally thought. If what Wild said last night is true, about him not remembering that before, then the things we have seen so far have nothing to do with the hardships of his childhood. It makes me wonder just what else he has had to deal with on his journey.” Wild is about to reveal he is awake but someone else speaking stops him.

“There is one thing that can be done. Legend and Warriors need to apologize. Considering that they’re the ones that scuffed it in the first place I think that’s the least they can do.” Hyrule’s tone leaves no room for argument and sounds every bit the protector of Hyrule that he is.

“What am I supposed to say?” Legend asks, voice soft and weak. Wild abruptly remembers that Twilight had said that neither of them had spoken since he stormed off. “I know what it’s like to be seen as nothing but a bastard child. It hurts when that’s all you are ever seen as regardless of your accomplishments. And it sounds like Wild had it harder even than me.”

“There were so many people in the army who believed that I only got to where I was because they found out I was the hero,” Warriors says. “For the longest time, I believed them and I made Wild think about feeling that way last night. I’m ashamed.” 

“You didn’t make him feel that way, Wars, I did,” Legend says.

“Then you’re not the reason he remembered being a bastard child, I am,” Warriors shoot back. 

“Regardless of who said what,” Sky begins, “the fact remains that Wild was hurt. We don’t know how he will react to what happened last night. Not about his memories. Not about his Father. Not about his sister. Not about the fact that he spoke to us. The only thing we can do is be there if he needs us, if he wants us to be.” 

“Sky’s right. Only Wild can choose how to react to this situation. None of us, especially you two, have any right to determine how he’s supposed to act. The only thing we can do for him is our best,” Four says, wisdom flowing from his lips like water from a river. 

“Should I even tell him how sorry I am?” Warriors says. “Would he even want to know?”

“We fucked up Wars. He’ll probably be mad at us for weeks.” The resignation in Legend’s voice makes Wild’s heart sink.

“I’ve got a feeling he knows,” Twilight says, after Wild finishes sitting up. The rest of the group’s eyes fly towards the pair of them. What a sight they must make. Wild, whose eyes are probably still red from all his crying last night, and Twilight, who has dark circles under his eyes from staying up all night to watch Wild, sitting close together with a hand intertwined on Twilight’s lap. All of their eyes widen but Warriors and Legend’s both blow open.

“Wild I-” “I’m so-” They both try to speak at the same time but Wild raises his free hand.

“I’m still mad at you,” he says aloud and can see the others’ surprise at his willingness to do so. “What you said was callous and insensitive to both each other and to the rest of us.” He lets the two of them stew in guilt for a few silent moments before continuing. “But I can’t say that I’m not thankful.” Both Legend and Warriors whip their head up to look at him instead of at the ground. 

“What?” Legend breathes.

“Just because I didn’t remember the circumstances behind my pulling the sword or exactly how I came to exist doesn’t mean I didn’t have nightmares about it. And sure, suddenly being pulled into those memories wasn’t pleasant at all.” Wild looks down and a small smile appears on his face before he raises it again. “But I have a sister,” he pauses in awe of the fact, “and she’s _alive_. I’ve spoken to her. She’s married and happy. And she never would have told me if I hadn’t remembered on my own. Thanks to you I get to talk to her and tell her how much I love her. I never would have realized without you guys. So I’m not forgiving you for what you said, but I’m grateful that you said it. Just don’t do it again.” Warriors and Legend both nod their heads so fast Wild think that might fly off. 

“Now that that’s all worked out,” Twilight says, “would you mind cooking breakfast? Our dinner last night was subpar at best.” Wild laughs a little and nods. He wouldn’t trade this life for the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment. They keep me alive.  
> The next chapter will come by Saturday.


	7. Pwease hewp me I'm dwowning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wild drops out of Four's Hyrule and straight into Wind's. It doesn't go very well.  
> AKA  
> Wild really doesn't like being suddenly thrown underwater.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please take note of the new tags I added. Wild almost fucking drowns in this chapter fam. Don't read it if it will trigger you. Also I'm really sorry about how late this is. I wanted to add a chapter before the one I already had written but I couldn't find any inspiration. I have some now so more will be coming soon I promise.  
> Also no I don't take criticism on my titles because I'm fucking hilarious.

He panics. He’s not proud of it but when the ground falls out from underneath him and he plummets straight into a body of water he can’t control his instinctive reaction. For a moment he forgets. He forgets how he’s been travelling with the other heroes. He forgets Twilight holding him when he has nightmares. He forgets Hyrule’s comforting hand in his while they walk. He forgets Time’s soft looks when he sees him cooking in the kitchen with Malon. All he can remember is drowning. All he can recognize is water around him no way out. He can feel the memories he can’t touch just outside his reach and can feel them slipping away. What happened? What did he do wrong this time? What killed him? Why is he back in the Shrine? 

He takes a gasping breath and it _hurts._ Why does it hurt? The Shrine is supposed to heal him! What is this? Why? He thrashes and sinks, one hand grasping at his tunic. He doesn’t hit the bottom. Where is it? What’s going on? He can feel himself getting lightheaded. He’s going to die here. The Shrine is going to kill him. Has it realized just how much of a failure he is? Is that it? A hand grasps his forearm above him and he startles. He tries weakly to pull out of its grasp but he can’t gather the strength. It pulls him upwards and he blacks out before anything more can happen. 

* * *

Wild wakes up to wood creaking and swaying. He opens his eyes and sees a wood ceiling above him. He tries to sit up and hisses in pain. It feels like someone has hit his chest with a hammer. He sucks in a breath at the pain and it only makes it _worse._ His attempted breath comes out in coughs and suddenly there are people on either side of him. 

“Easy, Wild,” Sky’s comforting voice comes from his right where a firm hand is pushing him gently back into the bed. “You need to keep laying down. Here, drink this.” A bottle is held to his lips and the taste of red potion washes over his tongue and he gags. He much prefers the elixirs he makes but he guesses the others don’t have access to them when he’s unconscious. He finishes the potion and can feel the ache in his chest subsiding. He opens his eyes again and looks up at Sky and Wind who was apparently the one on his other side. 

“What happened?” He wheezes, throat still in the process of healing after the potion. Wind and Sky share a meaningful look above him. 

“You don’t remember?” Sky asks kindly. Wild tries to remember but it seems to be just out of his grasp. He shakes his head. 

“Last I remember we were in Four’s Hyrule walking through a forest but now we’re on a boat?” He questions and gets a nod in response. “What happened?” 

“You almost drowned!” Wind yells suddenly. 

“Wind, wait,” Sky says but Wind doesn’t listen to him. 

“When we switched you were one of the ones that fell in the water. You just sank. You didn’t even try. Do you have any idea how _worried_ I was?” Wind reaches up and grabs at his tunic. “I had to dive in and drag you up to the boat _myself._ You weren’t breathing when we got you up here. Hyrule had to perform CPR!” Wind’s breathing is heavy when he gets to the end of his sentence. Wild hardly notices, thrown suddenly back into the panic he felt when he was submerged so suddenly without warning. Dead, dead. He should be dead. He died. The water heals. The water is good. He hates the water. Why is he here? What happened to him? Who is he even supposed to be? He’s nothing, no one. The water took it away. 

He’s suddenly jerked out of the thoughts by two firm hands on his shoulders. What? There shouldn’t be hands. His eyes suddenly snap slightly to the right and focus on the face of someone above him. His face is clear and he knows he should be able to place it but he can’t at the moment. The boy’s mouth is moving but he can’t hear anything he says over the sound of water rushing in his ears. His breathing is heavy and suddenly he realizes he’s not breathing in water, he’s breathing in air. His hands whip up to grab at the wrist connected to the hands and squeeze a bit. 

The boy’s mouth hasn’t stopped moving but he still can’t hear him. He releases the boy’s wrists and reaches out to grab at his collar with one hand and pushes his other to his neck. It’s warm, he realizes as he feels the skin under his hands. It has a pulse, he notices as the boy releases one of his shoulders to grab at his hand and press it more firmly into his neck. The boy is alive, he understands suddenly and drags the boy down so he can try and take some of the warmth he’s almost forgotten even existed. The boy’s arms come around him and squeeze him firmly. There is no denying that either of them exist in this moment. He feels something well up in his chest and he lets out a sob. He thought he was the only one. He thought he was alone. The water rushing over his ears clears suddenly and he can hear what the boy says. 

“...okay. You’re okay. I’m okay. We’re alive and here. You’re here with me. I won’t let you go, Wild. I won’t let anyone put you back in the water,” the boy says and suddenly Wild remembers where he is, who he’s clinging to. He tightens his hold. 

“Sky,” He cries out. “Sky!” He can feel the tears on his cheeks. Suddenly he realizes he’s staining Sky’s sailcloth with his tears and tries to jerk back. Sky doesn’t let him, one hand coming up to cradle the back of his head and run fingers through his hair. 

“Shhh. You’re fine. It’s okay,” Sky says, words said softly just over his shoulder. 

“But your sailcloth,” Wild tries to argue but is hushed again. 

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing a little wash can’t fix.” Sky keeps his hold on him for a few more moments before he leans back. “Now, are you okay or should I hug you again?” One of his hands comes up to wipe at his tears. 

“I’m okay.” His voice comes out raspy and Wild can’t help but cringe. He can feel his eyelids drop a bit and is suddenly overcome with the exhaustion that comes with panicking so hard. He can feel himself lean forward a bit. Sky notices. 

“Go back to sleep, Wild,” he says kindly. “I’ll be here when you wake up. I promise.” He pushes back to lay on the bed again. Vaguely he realizes that Wind must’ve left the room at some point but Sky’s hand running fingers through his hair soothes him enough that he falls asleep before he can even ask where he’s gone. 

* * *

True to his word Sky is there when he wakes up and he’s not the only one. Sky is sitting perched near the head of the bed, hands busy putting braids into Wild’s hair. Another hand, one that belongs to Twilight, is rubbing comforting circles on the back of his hand. The two are talking quietly about some sword technique he doesn’t know. It’s a conversation that quickly stops when Twilight notices he’s awake. 

“Cub!” Twilight releases his grip on his hand to bring his wrist up to rub at the side of Wild’s neck, imitating the way he rubs his snouts there when he’s Wolfie. “How are you feeling?” 

“Like shit,” Wild answers simply. “I remembered something that was better left forgotten.” Twilight shares a look with Sky who continues to braid his hair even though he’s awake. 

“You don’t have to answer, Wild,” he begins, “but what was it about?” Wild can feel himself stiffen as he thinks about water water water and trapped trapped trapped. Twilight’s hand shifts to grab at his shoulder and he realizes he had been about to spiral. 

“Let’s maybe not talk about it right now, yeah?” Twilight says, trying to diffuse the situation. “Is there anything you do wanna talk about?” 

“Where is Wind?” Wild asks, leaning into Sky’s soothing hands. 

“He’s upstairs charting a course with Tetra,” Twilight answers. “We’ve finished up here so we’ve decided to head to Outset so Wind can see his Grandma.” 

“Finished here? How long was I out?” Wild asks. 

“Not including the last time you woke up, it's been almost two days,” Twilight says softly, leaning towards Wild just a bit. 

“Two days?!” Wild tries to jerk up but Twilight’s hand on his shoulder doesn’t let him. 

“Cub, you almost died. You’re staying in this bed as long as you can.” Twilight’s tone is firm and Wild knows he won’t get anywhere with him. He decides to sigh instead. 

“Fine.” He crosses his arms over his chest and glares up at Twilight but he knows it probably isn’t very effective. 

“Don’t give me that look, Wild. Dying is nothing to scoff at,” Twilight scolds, and Wild barks out a humorless laugh. 

“It’s not like it would be the first time.” The hands in his hair still for just a moment and Wild tilts his head enough to see the look of sadness that flickers across Sky’s face. 

“Even so,” he says after he regains his composure, “you worried all of us. You should have told us if you didn’t like to swim. We would’ve stayed away from the water before now.” 

“No!” Wild shouts and reaches up to grab either of them with one hand each. “I love swimming. It’s freeing. Being able to move in any direction I want. Only being held back by how long I can hold my breath and how much energy I have and not the constraints the ground has. It’s amazing.” Twilight looks confused. 

“Then why did you-” He starts and cuts himself off with an apologetic look. He goes to apologize but Wild doesn’t let him. 

“It’s not swimming, it’s the water.” He stops for a second and continues at the blank look on Twilight’s face. “It wasn’t that I couldn’t swim or anything. It’s that I got submerged so suddenly. I wasn’t at all prepared for it.” Wild can feel Sky nod behind him.

“I don’t understand exactly what you mean by that, cub,” Twilight says, eyes flicking to glance at Sky. Wild narrows his eyes for a second in thought.

“Before when I got in the water I knew I was going in. It was a choice I made. I had control over how long I was in there and when I entered.” Wild lets go of their wrists to rub his hands together trying to find some comfort. Both Sky and Twilight seem to notice his growing distress because the hand in his hair starts braiding again and Twilight’s wrist is pressed against the side of his neck. “But this time it was sudden. One moment we were in the middle of a forest and the next I was underwater. It isn’t the first time I’ve seemingly gone from a forest into water in an instant so I panicked.”

“You don’t have to tell us, Wild,” Sky says gently and somehow Wild gets the feeling that Sky understands. “Just because we wanna know and be there for you doesn’t mean that’s what you want or need. Only tell us if that’s what you want.” Wild takes a second to bask in the care and affection that interlace with those words. He can feel in that moment just how much Sky cares about him and it makes him want to cry at the feelings it drags out from within him. In that moment he makes his decision.

“I want to tell you,” He says with as much gusto as he can muster. “But I want to tell _all_ of you and I can only tell it once.” Twilight nods at him. 

“Do you want us to go get the others now or do you want to wait until after dinner?” Twilight asks. Wild suddenly remembers what him being unconscious for two days means. His eyes blow wide and he can see both Twilight and Sky startle, probably thinking he’s going to have another panic attack. Instead, he reaches up and grabs both of Twilight’s shoulders. 

“Twilight this is very important and I need you to answer me honestly,” he says and watches as Twilight and Sky share a not subtle at all worried look. 

“Of course, cub,” Twilight answers after a heavy moment. 

“Who,” Wild starts, “has been cooking?” There’s a moment of stillness before Sky lets out a small laugh. 

“Sorry, sorry,” he tries to say but can’t get it out through the laughs bubbling up in his chest. “That’s the last thing I expected you to say.” Wild starts to laugh right along with him, Twilight following right behind. Suddenly all three of them are letting out loud peals of laughter. Eventually the laughs die down enough that Twilight deems him worthy of an answer. 

“We’re on Tetra’s ship, cub.” He’s still laughing some, a crooked happy smile on his face. “There’s a ship cook.” 

“Thank the goddesses for that though,” Sky giggles out. “Surely without him we would have all starved.” 

“Honestly though,” Twilight says, looking at Sky before his warm gaze shifts to look down at Wild. “So, after dinner then?” Wild smiles up at him and nods. Twilight has always been able to read him like that even back when he was Wolfie. 

“But for now, I want you to tell me about this cook,” Wild says with a smirk. “I’ll have to challenge him. Assert my culinary dominance.” The three of them dissolve into laughter once more and Wild forgets at least for that moment just what the conversation he will be having later means. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The conversation will be next chapter. I though it was getting a little long and I didn't want you guys to wait any longer than you have to for content. Please scream at me in the comments. I, like all the angstketeers, revel in your responses.


	8. Water is only fun in slip and slides

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wild lets some things off his chest. Sky then also lets some things off his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's finally back bitches. I've had a helluva time with writer's block recently. Sorry about it taking so long but life is pain. It didn't help that this chapter ended up being over 4000 words.  
> Edit: Since Skyward Sword announced on Switch I realized that I should put a little warning. The second half of the chapter contains spoilers for the game. Since I knew a lot of people hadn't played it I was thorough with my explanation but now it might be a bit excessive.

They all congregate in the room Wild has been sleeping in for the past two days to eat dinner. Wild will admit that the food isn’t bad. This however does not mean he would say that out loud. Eventually the jeering and taunting of the others dies down as they all settle into the after dinner silence that has become their norm some nights. Wind is the one who breaks it.

“Wild, I’m so sorry.” His eyes are wide and honest. Wild remembers in that moment just how young Wind really is. “Sky tried to warn me, but I didn’t listen.”

“It’s fine, Wind,” Wild assures. “You didn’t know that’s how I was going to react. You had no reason to believe that the reason I almost drowned in the first place was because of a panic attack anyways.” Suddenly the atmosphere has a different feeling to it.

“Speaking of which,” Time starts, “you said that you wanted to explain what that was about right?”

“Don’t feel obligated to,” Legend says in that rarely sincere tone. “All of us have secrets we’d rather not share. Just because some of yours are a little more in our faces than some of ours doesn’t mean you are any less entitled to privacy.”

“Legend’s right, Wild,” Warriors says. “You really don’t need to tell us what happened. But you do need to tell us if there is anything we can do to help. If there is anything I can do to prevent what happened a few days ago from happening again I need to know it.” There are several nods from the rest of the boys.

“Thank you,” Wild says softly. “But I have to get this off my chest now. I trust all of you. You’ve become like brothers to me.” Hyrule grabs at his hand and leans his head against his shoulder. 

“The floor is yours Wild. Take all the time you need,” Time says. Twilight knocks a hand against his arm and Wild feels safe in between these two people he knows will never hurt him.

“I don’t know exactly how to lead into this, so I’ll be blunt,” Wild says, looking down at his lap. “I spent a hundred years drowning.” The hand holding his tightens for a second and Wild can see several of the others tense too. 

“ _What?_ ” Four breathes. Wild smiles sadly at him.

“The Shrine of resurrection was this tank. It was filled with this water. It was in two parts, the bottom part where you put the injured person and this part that comes down from the ceiling that acts as a lid to keep anything from getting into the tank and interrupting the process. It also-” Wild cuts himself off and squeezes Hyrule’s hand, getting a squeeze back in return. It doesn’t help as much as he thought it would, so he settles on drumming his fingers against his thigh. “It also keeps anything from escaping. It’s airtight so no liquid can escape. The metal of the lid was smooth. There wasn’t anywhere to get a handle. My nails wouldn’t catch on its surface for the first few dozen times but eventually I wore it down enough. I’m sure if you look now, you’ll see the gouges in it.”

“You… you were awake for that?” Wild can hear the poorly concealed horror in Hyrule’s voice. Wild shrugs and doesn’t answer the question.

“The Shrine was meant to fix people, but it was untested. It was built in secret by the same monk who headed the team that built the Divine Beasts which is why no one doubted its validity, but no one knew exactly how it worked.” Wild’s eyes feel almost heavy with the apathy he’s trying to project to keep himself sane. “It fixes you. But it’s not healing, not really. It puts you back together piece by piece. It goes off a map of the body, but the map was basic. The shrine didn’t know how to adapt to my body specifically. Which is one of the reasons I was left with so many scars. But the shrine did a lot of things it wasn’t supposed to and didn’t do some of the things it was.”

“I was put in that shrine after dying in battle protecting Zelda. I went down in the middle of a battlefield surrounded by fires and bodies and trees and the next thing I knew I was in the water. I freaked out and tried to fight my way out and it just ended up getting me bruises which the shrine healed later I suppose. I don’t know how long I was in there before I woke up for the first time. I have no idea how long I was aware for in there. I never want to know how much time I spent not even knowing if I was crying or not because how could I tell if I was already drowning? But none of that is the worst part. Because the Shrine took my memories too you know. And I was aware when it was happening.” Hyrule’s other hand suddenly grips his forearm and Wild realizes that he’s shaking, the both of them are. He keeps going anyways because if he stops now, he’ll never tell anyone about it.

“It was slow. The shrine had a template. The way people remember things has to do with your head. The way Purah explained it to me is that whatever creates memories leaves some sort of electricity behind that your brain can interpret as memories. The shrine recognized that electricity as some sort of wound or something. It didn’t fit into its template. So it fixed them. Slowly. One day I would know something and the next day I couldn’t remember it other than I knew it was missing. I forgot about my duty. I forgot about my family. I forgot my own damn name.”

“By the time I woke up I didn’t even know I was missing anything because I had been _blank_ for so long. I only knew two things: Zelda’s voice in my head and what it feels like to drown. I think my own brain forgot the second thing on purpose because before I fell into the water here, I didn’t remember most of that. I was always cautious around water, but I didn’t know why. But I got dropped suddenly into the water. One moment I had been in a forest and the next I was drowning again. I couldn’t remember anything but the water. I didn’t mean to panic, it just happened. I’m-”

“I swear to Hylia if you apologize, I’ll fucking stab you.” Legend’s voice interrupts him. Wild swings his head up to look at him. “None of that shit is your fault. You may not have been awake to see it, but I didn’t react well to being on a boat. As it is, I refuse to leave the lower deck. And no,” Legend swings his eyes away from Wild to glare at a few people around the circle, “I will not be sharing why I don’t like boats at tonight’s feeling pow wow session.” Wild hears both Warriors and Wind huff and assumes they’ve been pestering Legend about it for the past few days.

“That fucking sucks Wild,” Four says. “I can’t even imagine going through something like that. Knowing about the Shrine was bad enough when we didn’t know you were fucking _awake_ for some of it.”

“Four and Legend are right, Wild,” Time says, fixing his eye on Wild. “What happened to you was horrible and tragic. I would wish that kind of fate on no one and if I could take that experience away from you I would in a heartbeat. But as it is that trauma is yours and getting thrown directly into the same circumstances is very much a reason to panic.”

“Yes,” Sky says, a strange look on his face. “I said this earlier but then I didn’t really know what I was saying. Wild, I won’t _ever_ let anyone put you back in the water. No one will put you back in the shrine.” Tears well up in Wild’s eyes at their genuine words. They care about him. They don’t think he’s a failure. They don’t think that he’s broken. 

A horrible voice in the back of his head whispers that if they knew about Zelda they would change their minds. That if they knew that even though he’d saved his hyrule he had failed at one of the most basic duties he had, to protect Zelda, they’d turn their backs on him. He tells that voice to shut up for now and let him have this moment. Sky gets out of his chair to crouch down in front of him and wipe his tears away just like he had earlier. The look on his face has been hidden but Wild can still see the same emotion in his eyes.

“None of this changes anything, Cub,” Twilight says reaching out and rubbing his wrist across the back of his neck. “If anything it makes me respect you more. You did your entire adventure with no memories _at all._ I never could have done my adventure like that. I never could have survived like that. But you did. And I am so proud of you for it.” Wild turns and buries his face into Twilight’s shoulder in response. 

He thinks for just a moment of telling them. Telling them about Zelda. About how she had died, and he had failed. About how he’d gotten through that castle, through that battle, only to be rewarded with the body of the only person he could really remember and a gift he didn’t want. He wants to tell them about the sleepless nights, about never staying in one place for long. He’s not sure if he wants them to agree with him or not. About whether or not he’s a failure. But that thought passes and he stays silent.

“If all that is true then how are you getting some of your memories back?” Wind asks. Wild pulls away and looks at him.

“So I don’t fully understand exactly what she said but Purah told me that the electricity the memories come from left behind a shadow? Or some sort of groove or something? It left behind,” he trails off for a second then it comes to him, “scars! Proof of the memories having existed before just like the scars on my skin. If I’m given the right stimulus the electricity will run through the same passageways which gives me my memories back.” 

“I...think...that makes sense?” Hyrule says from his place beside him. 

“Best not to try and overthink it,” Wild says and that’s the end of that.

“So cub,” Twilight says, twenty minutes later well into the normal after dinner conversations, “you still gonna challenge Niko to a cooking battle?” A smile full of chaos spreads across Wild’s face and he watches as Twilight immediately regrets asking the question.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wild is walking out of the kitchen after setting up a cook off with Niko for later that night when he hears a voice call out from behind him. “Hey Wild.” He turns and he sees Sky standing not too far away on hand raised in greeting. “Do you think we could talk?” 

“Yeah, sure Sky,” Wild replies, turning to fully face him. He notices that Sky looks slightly nervous and Wild wonders what exactly he wants to talk about. “What’s up?” Sky’s face scrunches up just a bit in almost a pained look.

“I-” He starts and freezes, hands curling into fists at his sides. “I get it.”

“Get what?” Wild tilts his head as he says it.

“Water only causing panic when its sudden.” Sky looks down at his feet and Wild can feel his eyes twitch in confusion or worry he can’t determine which.

“You don’t have to tell me anything you aren’t comfortable with you know,” Wild says. He takes a few steps forward closing the distance between them so he can reach out and take one of Sky’s hands and try to get him to release his grip. “You shouldn’t force yourself to talk about things that make you uncomfortable.”

“But you did.” Sky’s head whips up and suddenly he’s looking Wild directly in the eyes. “You did.”

“I did,” Wild agrees, nodding slightly. “Because I wanted you all to know so I had to tell you first regardless of how hard it was.” Sky reaches up with his other hand to cover the back of one of his hands.

“I want you to know.” Wild can see the resolve in Sky’s eyes. “I just…” His eyes flicker down and away. “I don’t like to talk about it. Because when I do it becomes more _real._ ” Wild nods.

“Still, Sky. You shouldn’t tell me if it will dredge up old memories. I know better than anyone that some things are better left forgotten.” He tries to catch Sky’s eyes to make sure he knows how serious he is about the words, but Sky won’t meet his eyes. Sky takes a step back and Wild is forced to release his grip on his hands. Sky hunches forward a bit as his right hand comes up to grasp right above his left elbow.

“They’re not just gonna go away even if I don’t tell you.” He sighs, hand moving up and down his arm trying to create a sense of comfort. “So will you let me?” 

“It’s not really my decision to make, Sky,” Wild says with what he hopes is a comforting smile. “You should say whatever you want.” Sky is silent for a few moments and for a second Wild thinks he’s changed his mind about telling him whatever it was that he wanted to say. 

“When I was on my journey, I had to prove myself over and over again,” Sky begins breaking the silence. “In order to activate the gate of time I had to empower the goddess sword. Doing this forged the goddess sword into the master sword as you all know it. But in order to do that I had to find the three sacred flames. Each was locked behind an area that I couldn’t access without first completing a trial.” Sky’s eyes narrow for a second and then he continues. “These trials happened in this place called the silent realm. That world was just an imprint of our own. All of the places were the same but it was completely still and silent. However me being there disturbed this silence and because of that the protectors of that realm tried to hunt me down. These protectors were known as guardians.” Wild can feel his eyes widen at the word.

“What do you mean guardians?” The words come out as a demand before he can stop them. Sky looks up at him startled for a second before a look of understanding washes over his face.

“Not those kinds of guardians.” Sky’s head tilts back. “These were very different from those machines you described to us.” He takes a breath and lets out a little hum. “There were two types.” His head drops down and he looks at Wild again. “One was tall and carried a large club. This one would stand like a sentry in one area, looking around, and if it caught sight of you it would follow you until it could eliminate you. I’m not quite sure how to describe how the other one looked. This one was different from the first one in that it always knew where you were. It phased through everything on a path directly towards you and if it caught up with you, it would cut you in half with one of the two large swords it wielded.” Wild watches as Sky’s grip on his other arm tightens for a moment. Wild almost wants to ask him to stop, seeing how much this is affecting him, but he doesn’t. 

“That sounds horrible Sky,” he says instead. Sky lets out a laugh that has no humor behind it.

“It was,” Sky agrees. “The point of the trial was to collect these objects called tears which were scattered around the area. I had to find and retrieve them all and avoid getting attacked by the guardians in the process. This was made possible by the fact that each time I collected a tear, the tear essentially hid my presence from the guardians. They wouldn’t be able to detect me for a certain amount of time. Which was great. It let me find out the locations for all of the tears in the area. But-” Sky’s face twitches as he cuts himself off and glances to the side, eyes narrow and full of emotion. His hand drops from its grip on his arm and he sighs. “Do you understand everything so far?” He asks. Wild recognizes the pause for what it is, a moment for Sky to gather his thoughts.

“I think I do.” Wild tilts his head slightly to the left. “You had to do trials in order to complete your journey. These trials involved finding these things called ‘tears’ from around the areas you were in. While you were doing this you had to avoid getting attacked by your ‘guardians.’ And when you got a tear they would protect from the guardians.” Sky nods slightly, his eyes drifting back to meet Wild’s own.

“Yeah, that’s right.” Sky looks down at his open palm. “Every time I grabbed a tear, they hid me.” His open palm closes into a tight fist. “But the mercy of the tears didn’t last forever. Slowly but surely, they would stop being effective. This wasn’t as big of a problem as I thought it would be. The tears were placed so that the one taking the trial would have enough time to collect them all without running out of time if you knew how to do it right. The problem was the ways that the tranquility of the tears could be ripped away.” Sky’s face flickers with an emotion Wild doesn’t think he’s quite capable of understanding. It’s almost like a mix of both fear and anger.

“Littered throughout the Silent Realm there were poes. If you got caught within the light of the poe’s lantern, then the poe would alert the rest of the inhabitants of the realm to your presence regardless of whether or not you had the protection of a tear. All it took was two seconds and a guardian being too close and you would fail the trial.” Sky’s hand relaxes from the way it closed its fist.

“Fail the trial?” Wild interjects. “What do you mean by that? How could you fail the trial?”

Sky laughs almost derisively, a melancholic look on his face. “If your spirit was destroyed by a guardian then you failed.” Wild can feel himself reel from the words but he doesn’t show it on his face.

“What does that mean?” He asks in a quiet, fragile voice.

“The Guardians shattered spirits in one hit. It hurt like hell and I have no idea how long it took me to reform each time after it happened. It could have been seconds, or it could have been hours. In those moments all I knew was the pain of floating in a void and the feeling of weightlessness that it gave me.” Sky moves his hand up to cover the bottom half of his face to hide the way his mouth has tightened into a grimace almost resembling a smile. “Trials could be retaken as long as the taker had the willpower to do so, and we all know that the hero’s spirit is nothing if not full of determination.” There’s a look in Sky’s eyes that Wild has never seen before on him. Sky has always been nothing but soft and caring. Wild never thought that Sky didn’t have trauma like the rest of them, but he didn’t expect Sky to have this kind of literally soul shattering trauma.

“That sucks,” Wild says before he can come up with a proper comforting response. He tenses when Sky’s shoulders shake, thinking that he’d upset him, but then Sky’s hand falls away from his mouth and a small but genuine laugh falls from his lips.

“Yeah, it does.” Sky shakes his head slightly, grin never leaving his face. “You’re such a hoot Wild.”

“Thanks?” Wild replies, confused.

“It was a compliment, yes.” Sky’s entire countenance softens into something fond. “You always know what to say to make me feel at least a little better. That’s one of the things I love most about you.” Wild can feel his eyes widen at the statement. He goes to say something, but Sky shakes his head before he can respond. “But we’re getting off topic. I didn’t come here to talk about my dislike for poes. I came here to tell you about the water.” Wild’s eyes snap to lock directly onto Sky’s.

“The water?” He asks.

“The water,” Sky confirms, solemn mood returning. “Poes functioned as a sort of security system. They had patrols and if they caught you, they sounded the alarm. But in the silent realm there was also what was called waking water. If you touched even a drop of the stuff it instantly negated the effect the tear gave that protected you from being detected. Finding another tear would hide you again but the water was much trickier than the poes. The water surrounded tears completely sometimes. I had to climb or jump over it in order to retrieve the tear. Even a single misstep could spell disaster.” Sky closes his eyes and shakes his head, opening them to stare at the ground. “It flowed too. Sometimes I would go to get a tear and the pathway would fill up behind me and I had to wait for it to flow somewhere else. There were so many times where I didn’t notice until too late that there was waking water in my path. Not until the silence was broken by echoes of clanging Guardians marching towards me.”

“Maybe one day I’ll tell you more about some of these experiences but for now I’ll tell you this one.” Sky looks up at him again. “The last trial took place on Skyloft, my home. It was both easier and harder than the others. Easier because I know every inch of Skyloft like the back of my hand and harder because knowing the layout in the waking world didn’t help me in every case. There was waking water in places where water never was on Skyloft. I shattered so many times because of that.” Sky’s voice shakes as he says it. “The one I remember the most was falling into the river. I was running low on time with the last tear I had collected. I tripped running to the next one and fell right into the river which flowed with waking water. I didn’t even have enough time to make it to shore before one of the phasing Guardians had sliced right through me.” His hand goes up to lay a hand over some wound that Wild will never see. 

“After everything was over Sun, Groose, and I were joking around near the river on Skyloft. Zelda pushed me in at some point, I don’t remember why. I panicked so hard that Groose had to jump in and get me out before I drowned.” Sky shakes his head. “I had to explain to both of them why I responded that way and I’ll never get over how horrified they both looked. Sun apologized to me so many times over the next few days. Eventually I had to grab her by the arms and look her in the eyes and tell her that she couldn’t have known, and it wasn’t her fault.” He sighs. “I don’t think she ever really believed me.” There’s a moment where neither of them say anything. Wild realizes that Sky’s waiting for him to respond.

“I can hardly believe that we have stories that are so similar.” Wild settles on, nothing else he came up with would have been anywhere near what Sky needed to hear. Sky’s eyes scrunch up just a bit as he smiles sadly at him.

“Yeah, neither can I.” Sky takes a step forward and grabs Wild’s hand again. “Our stories are very different, but the results were very close to the same. Knowing what I know about your adventure so far I think ours are far more similar than anyone else would have expected.” Sky runs a thumb over Wild’s knuckles just like Twilight had done earlier that day. “The oldest hero and the newest having such similar adventures. Who would have guessed?”

“Not me that’s for sure,” Wild deadpans. Sky chuckles again, smile spreading rapidly across his face before his face freezes in a grimace and he suddenly takes a step back and jerks his hand from Wild’s own.

“I owe you an apology.” Sky’s voice is heavy with emotion and Wild doesn’t know enough about it to tell what emotion it is.

“You don’t have to apologize to me about anything Sky,” Wild assures, taking a step forward to try and grab Sky’s hand again but Sky takes another step back to stay out of his reach.

“I was relieved,” Sky blurts out suddenly, hand twitching where its hanging in the air. “That I landed on the boat and you guys didn’t.” Sky’s face starts to show the emotion coloring his voice and very suddenly Wild realizes the emotion is shame. “I didn’t even notice that you were struggling because I was too busy being so glad that I wasn’t thrown into the water.”

“Sky,” Wild starts gently. “There’s nothing wrong with being glad that you didn’t have to relive trauma.” He tries again to grab Sky’s hand but suddenly Sky has jerked it into his chest and is holding it almost protectively.

“You don’t understand,” he hisses. “I’d take your place in an instant. But as much as I believe that and as much as I hate that you had to go through that some part of me is glad that it was you and not me and I hate myself for it.” Sky’s face scrunches up and Wild almost thinks he’s going to cry but the tears don’t come. 

“I’m glad it was me and not you too,” Wild says, tone leaving no room for misinterpretation.

“ _What_?” Sky breathes. “But you-”

“I relived one of the worst traumas I’ve ever experienced.” Wild acquiesce. “But that doesn’t matter. I would relive that a hundred times over if it meant that you would never have to be the one dropped suddenly into the situation again.”

“Wild,” Sky breathes disbelieving.

“You would do the same thing for me.” Wild forces all his conviction behind his words. “I know you would.” This time when Wild goes to grab Sky’s hand Sky lets him. Sky jerks on the hand he just grabbed and wraps Wild up in a hug. For a few minutes the two of them just stand there, in the middle of the hallway on Tetra’s ship and take in each other’s presence. But those moments end and Sky is the first one to let go. Wild doesn’t comment on the wetness that’s gathered in his eyes.

“You should probably get going.” Sky says, voice full of emotion. “Wolf boy is probably looking for you by this point.” Wild freezes in an instant.

“What?” He says, voice almost squeaking. Sky smiles genuinely and laughs at his reaction. It’s a full-bodied laugh and Wild’s embarrassed feeling at having made that noise is forgotten in the wake of the expression on Sky’s face.

“Did you think I didn’t know?” Sky says through his laughs, smile wide and carefree. “He’s not exactly subtle. And you all seem to forget that I didn’t just earn the triforce of courage. I earned power and wisdom as well.” 

“Why haven’t you said anything?” Wild demands. Sky smirks.

“It’s more fun this way,” he says. “Plus it’s Twilight’s secret to tell and I’m not going to out him if he doesn’t want to be outed.” Wild sighs in response.

“I didn’t expect that first answer from you Sky,” Wild says with a small grin.

“No one ever does,” Sky concedes. “Now get going.” Sky grasps a hand on Wild’s shoulder and pushes towards the end of the hallway. Wild starts to walk down the hallway when Sky calls out to him again. “Wild.” Wild turns around and looks back at Sky, who is looking at him with a fond expression on his face.

“Yeah Sky?” He asks.

“I’m proud of you.” The look on Sky’s face is genuine and Wild’s heart clenches at the sight. “I’m so proud that you’re one of my successors.” The look goes soft and he shakes his head slightly while he says, “And there’s nothing that will ever change that.” 

“Ok Sky,” Wild says, plastering a smile on his face that he isn’t sure looks genuine. He turns back around and walks away, head full of thoughts of Zelda and emotions he doesn’t want to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I make no promises on the arrival of the next chapter other than saying it will come in the next two weeks. It's already mostly written I just want to add some shit. Also there will be a chapter coming in the "Through another's eyes" about Sky's perspective of some of this and the immediate after. I highly recommend you read it cause it's gonna have a great insight Sky's general being. Gotta love him.

**Author's Note:**

> The angstketeers made a discord server so come join us if you want to screech at us. Yell at me to update. Just listen to my shit in general.  
> https://discord.gg/56HfnyfUeF


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